Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Wii Memories

Growing up, there were not a lot of kids our age in the neighborhood. That meant my brother and I hung out a lot. And while we were nowhere near video game addicts and I did not like shooting games like Goldeneye much, we did love playing Mario Kart on the Super Nintendo and later Nintendo 64. Koopa Troopa beach was my favorite track because I knew I could always beat my brother there. It was all about the secret tunnel.

Today Alex set up my Wii and we popped in the Mario Kart that my friends got me for my birthday. Though we were playing with a steering wheel instead of a index card-sized Super Nintendo remote and we did not need to blow into a game cartridge to make the game work again (seriously, where did we come up with that idea?), there were the same characters, magic boxes, and themed-tracks. I still drive like I drove back then, leaning my body with the curves of the track . . . yelling when I get hit by a red shell.

If my brother was not 3,000 miles away, I would challenge him to a Koopa Troopa beach challenge (or the equivalent track). We might both be "grown-ups" with jobs and apartments, but we are never too old to engage in some sibling rivalry.